2011 Storm Chase 1 - January 19th - Like Fresh Fruit In Winter

This was definitely more of an impromptu chase. I was aware of the potential for convection and noted that we had mustered around 100J/kg of CAPE in places over the Western Slope (per the RUC). I left my house to get my car washed and keep me eyes out for interesting skies to photograph near sunset. I was not disappointed!

No sooner had I pulled out of the car wash than I noticed a nice cell rolling in from the north-northwest. Please understand that my threshold for a "nice cell" is rather low considering the location and time of year. Regardless, it was coming in with earnest and was notably exhibiting a shelf cloud on its front. I attempted to get into a good position for a picture but failed before it was already overhead.

I left the city limits and found myself on a muddy road into the East Fruita Desert. Another cell was rolling over the Roan Plateau to my northeast and was looking rather ominous. The sun was still hitting the cliffs as the storm approached. Note that the promontory is Mount Garfield.

Mount Garfield being swallowed up.

A look back to the southeast, toward the Monument. This is the back side of the original shelf cloud.

The newer cell, upen reaching the edge of the Bookcliffs, began to shelf-out as well. One could imagine a dense pool of cold air virtually spilling off of the edge of the plateau and this is evident in the pictures below.




Please ignore the blurriness of the following picture. I just wanted to illustrate that there were some nice downdrafts with a few of the leading cells. This, I can assure you, is almost all snow (probably graupel) on the foothills of Grand Mesa.



The cells moved through just before golden hour and the clouds cleared enough to get some nice images of my surroundings.




One final look at some hidden storm structure as the evening light coursed in:



I attempted to reposition for better photographic opportunities, but the light faded and so did the storms. Still, it was nice to get out and pursue something meteorological. I could feel a hint of energy in the air and that was certainly a nice reminder that Spring is around the corner.

STATS
Mileage: 20
(Year-to-date): 20
Largest Hail: None.
Winds Of Consequence: None observed.
Tornadoes: 0

Other reports on the date:
None.

Official Storm Reports for January 19th.

Detail Map:



Dann.

2011 - January 15th - Colorado National Monument (South Entrance)

Since moving to the Western Slope, I've made a promise to myself to take advantage of my free time and explore as much as possible. In Denver, it took a long time to leave the city and find solitude, but here, it takes less than ten minutes. I've been out on most of my "weekends" and plan on doing so as much as possible.


On Saturday, the 15th of January, the Colorado National Monument was offering free admission in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I have since purchased the annual pass! I made my foray into the Monument before work (I didn't have to be in until 2PM) and though Rimrock Drive/Monument Road, the road that winds through the Monument, was closed a few miles in from the southern entrance, I figured I'd scout the area out and take some photos.

... well, I'm not sure I was prepared for just how scenic the Monument is. I took a lot of pictures! Here is the set:

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW)

Approaching the Monument, interesting altocumulus formation.

I drove up to where the road was closed without stopping, deciding to stop and take pictures on the way down. The road was closed near the junction to the Glade Park road, which just so happens to be near the overlook known as Cold Shivers Point.

Columbus Canyon from Cold Shivers Point.


I decided to explore the open country at this point as the snow was not very deep. I left the trail at the overlook and weaved through the short Piñon trees, keeping close to the edge.

Looking back up Columbus Canyon to its source.

Another view from the edge of Columbus Canyon, overlooking the Grand Valley.

The Redlands (or Redlands, Colorado)

Piñon Tree

Eventually, I wandered back to my vehicle and started descending the winding road. I stopped many times for photo-ops.














I did have to be at work that afternoon, so I headed home at this point to get changed. This would not be my first journey into the Monument. I have a lot more pictures to come!

* * *

I made a trip back to Denver on the 11th of January to visit friends and clean out my apartment. It was my first day off since starting work just after Christmas. I snapped this shot of Mount Garfield on my way out of the Grand Valley. I'm pleased with how it came out considering I was going 75mph on I-70 at the time.



I will also have pictures of the day that I made summit on Mount Garfield coming up soon. Next week, however, you'll get to see a few photos from my first "storm chase" on the Western Slope.

Dann.

Holidays In Montana

I was fortunate enough to enjoy a quick trip home to Montana to visit with family for Christmas before packing up and moving. Here are a few photos from my trip:


Christmas Day, Wapiti Mountain Road


To Grandmother's House We Go


View of the Highland Mountains


Sunrise from Homestake Pass, Montana, December 26th





Dann.

Alive On The Western Slope

Just a quick note to let you all know I'm ALIVE!

... living and working in Grand Junction, Colorado.



Been taking a lot of pictures on the few exploratory journeys I've made since being out here... even did a little "chasing" on one occasion.

Having some technology issues at the moment that may take a while to get resolved, but don't worry... I'll be back.

Dann.

December 21st - Urban Wildlife & Full Lunar Eclipse

I was hanging out with Skinner last night and our plan was to go check out the lunar eclipse. I picked him up in Aurora and on our way out of the parking lot, he says to me: "Dann, is that a deer?"

"It's probably some Christmas decoration," I assured him.

"No really, I think it's a deer."

I look over to my left and sure enough, there is a mule deer on the grass median between the road and sidewalk. Of course, we had to investigate. I flipped the car around and Skinner got out, ready to stalk the deer. In my head, it seemed like one of Santa's elves was trying to break a reindeer. The picture speaks for itself:



The doe walked through a few trees and we decided to pull into the parking lot behind her and see if we could get a good picture. Finally, we spotted her again and she didn't seem too alarmed. I actually set up my tripod and approached her for this picture. If I recall correctly, I wasn't zoomed in. I was only about twenty feet from her.



While I was watching her, I felt like I was being watched and not by Skinner! I turned to my right to see at least six more deer standing in the shadows, about twenty five feet away. Keep in mind that we are in the middle of Aurora and not on the outskirts or in the foothills.

I tried to get a good photo, but they were on the move; not cooperating with my longer exposures. I fell in behind them as they slowly moved and found it interesting that I could *smell* them. There were also two bucks in the group, one of which was an 8-10 point! Finally, they stopped and posed for a while.

Ghost deer.


Buck in the center.

The herd crossed the street and since the moon was already being darkened by the shadow of the earth, we headed out on I-70 to Airpark to meet up with Hambone. It felt good to be eastbound on I-70 again, even if it was only an eclipse chase. When we arrived at Airpark and met Scott, there was a thin veil of cirrus over the area but it soon dissipated and by totality, we were in the clear. We tried to get some good shots, but I felt limited with my point-and-shoot. I did end up happy with the results though. We also posed for a few shots and observed a very fast moving plane leave a contrail over the sky. It was pretty cool! Actually, it was pretty cold. I would take a few pictures and then go warm up my hands. The light, biting wind in combination with my aluminum tripod legs kept my fingertips a-sting. As soon as totality rolled around, we snapped a couple of pictures and rolled out.

Here are a few shots from Airpark:

Crop of the moon near half-eclipse.


Contrail.


Skinner and Hambone taking in the view.


Group shot... wish I had a wide-angle to get the moon too!


Best shot I got of totality. Zoomed but not cropped. This is the full image.


This is a crop of another image, but a nice, close look at totality.


Between the deer and the eclipse, it was quite the eventful night... and it's always good to meet up with friends.

Dann.

Weather-Related: December 20th, 2010

We haven't exactly been in a benign pattern across the United States so far in December. In fact, we've seen a few interesting events... most of which have been as far away from Denver as possible!

Yazoo: The Third Act
-Yazoo City, Mississippi can't seem to catch a break. The city had already endured two tornado strikes over the course of the year when it had another scare on December 11th. I was watching this storm closely as it moved through the area. It exhibited rapid rotation on radar (as seen below) and the couplet moved just south of the city. While no actual tornado was reported, there was some decent wind damage just south of town. Take a look at the storm relative velocities!




Ice In Havre
-On December 12th, Havre, Montana experienced some freezing rain. I thought this would be a good opportunity to demonstrate how this happens. Take a look at the image below. It is of a model (RUC) forecast sounding for the time period that Havre experienced the freezing rain. On the image, the red trace shows the air temperature as we move up in the atmosphere; the green trace shows the dewpoint. On the left side of the chart, the numbers show millibars (mb) or a measure of atmospheric pressure. Pressure recedes predictably for the most part as you move from the earth's surface upward. The most important thing to look at here are the diagonal lines. These show temperature in degrees Celsius. Obviously, the 0ºC line is the freezing point. You can see on the chart that from 870mb to 780mb, the temperature is above the freezing point. As we move lower than 870mb, or closer to the ground, the temperature is below the freezing point. Also notice that the atmosphere is saturated (or the dewpoint is the same as the temperature) up to 850mb. In this example, a warm, Pacific airmass has made it over the Rockies and is overrunning the very cold, dense continental polar air mass already in place. It is hard for this warm air to mix down into the dense, cold air, so the cold air can effectively pool below it. When precipitation forms in the above-freezing layer and falls into the shallow cold, sub-freezing pool, it freezes, thus freezing rain. Kind of cool, eh?




Denver Doldrums
-The pattern hasn't changed much locally. It has been warm and dry and we are still in wave cloud season. (Wave clouds at sunset pictured from my bedroom below). The metro area did receive a dusting of snow on the 17th, but it is all gone already!




Geminids
-Took a trip out on the night of the 12th to Barr Lake to see the Geminids. This was actually the night prior to the peak, but I was near the edge of the metro area and my cousin and his friend were game to head out. Unfortunately, there was a wave cloud directly overhead which only gave us a few gaps to see through. We were there for about an hour and I saw 9... many less than others out the next night, but I considered it a successful trip. I took a couple shots at capturing one in frame, but struck out.

Radio towers and planes taking off from Denver International.

My cousin Brian laying out on several folding chairs, surveying the sky.


Aumsville Tornado
-Tuesday (the 14th) kept my attention all day as a rare tornado struck the town of Aumsville, Oregon. The tornado was spawned by a small supercell which formed in a favorably sheared environment in the eastern stretches of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Fortunately, no one was injured by this tornado but there was quite a bit of damage. It was rated an EF-2 by the NWS (more info can be found here.


Side-by-side views of the 0.5º Base Velocity and Storm-Relative Velocity images. Rotation is evident in both images.


Of The West
-I took a trip west of the divide on Wednesday (the 15th) where there actually is some weather! Of course, the mountains have been doing a fantastic job of keeping the weather out west and not along the Front Range. It is still rather dry on the West Slope, however, so most of the precipitation impacts the mountains and leaves the valleys relatively unscathed. Let's just say that the drive back to Denver that night was a bit more interesting as Vail Pass closed in front of me. As I was exploring the town of Minturn, it reopened and I was on my way.

Evening light graces the sides of Grand Mesa as seen from Palisade, Colorado, while it's flat top is dusted with snow.

The interaction between the ascending air mass and the topography causes some interesting cloud structure, tinted pink by the setting sun.


In closing, I'm heading home to Montana for Christmas and to see my family. I'm very excited to see everyone and spend a couple days in my home town. Plans get a little more sketchy when I get back as I will likely be packing up and moving from Centennial! Don't worry, this is a good thing... but you will have to wait a while for details. See you on the other side.

-Dann.